The great Spanish industry breaks into the pulse of data centers. From metal to automobiles, through chemistry and tiles, factories have presented allegations to the Government's draft royal decree that reinforces the requirements for data centers. Among the proposals, to which EL MUNDO has had access, includes a cost audit of data centers to avoid electricity increases, they also demand priority over AI when accessing water and electrical networks, resources that are increasingly strained by the emergence of digital infrastructures.
Spanish factories have soaked their beards in the face of the impact that the massive entry of data centers is causing in other countries. United States, Ireland, Netherlands... many of the governments that have been ahead in the deployment of data processing hubs are now limiting them against the clock, applying moratoriums or seeking solutions to their enormous energy demand and its effect on final prices and network stability.
A recent study in which four universities participated (three from the United States and one from Canada) estimated that digital infrastructure will absorb up to 20% of total electricity consumption in the United States in 2030, which will increase electricity prices by 57% in saturated regions – such as Northern Virginia – and will increase the average bill between 6% and 29%. The example resonates in the Spanish industry.
The bulk of the proposals have been channeled by the Alliance for the Competitiveness of Spanish Industry, made up of nine associations that bring together 4 million jobs, 67% of industrial exports and 55% of industrial GDP. Although, sectors such as the steel industry have alleged older individuals. The main concern is that the deployment of data centers will increase the energy bill of existing consumers, especially those of those companies where the price of electricity already moves the needle of competitiveness, the electro-intensive ones.
The Government wants to require that the consumption of data centers be 80% renewable and accredited hour by hour, and that this green energy be generated in plants built, at most, in the 18 months prior to the entry into operation of the data center. With this, Moncloa seeks to ensure that these infrastructures do not dry up the electrical system by monopolizing the existing electricity, but rather that they are accompanied by additional generation. Centers that do not comply will face financial penalties.
The Alliance welcomes these measures, but warns that they do not resolve the economic impact, because even data centers that are fully compliant may "continue to need network reinforcements, firm capacity and adjustment services due to their continuous consumption and the 20% not covered by the renewable obligation." Actions that entail more costs for the system that would end up being borne by all consumers.
"Once they come into operation it will be difficult to determine what part of the price increases are attributable to the data centers," business sources warn. For this reason, the industry urges the Government to activate a priori mechanisms to avoid "socializing" the extra costs of AI. As? With a prior audit by the network operator (Red Eléctrica) that evaluates the costs associated with each project at the time the connection permit is requested. Furthermore, it urges Moncloa and the CNMC to, within a period of six months from the publication of the decree, design a methodology that allows the increase in costs to be quantified.
preferential pass
The Alliance demands a mandatory "water memory" and that data centers certify a contingency plan that they must activate in times of drought. They also demand stronger control measures for those digital infrastructures, in order to guarantee that their water consumption does not endanger either the existing uses or the forecasts already contemplated in the hydrographic plans.
